Die Geschichte der Stunde

TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE Book Reviews 673 Die Geschichte der Stunde: Uhren und moderne Zeitordnung. By Gerhard Dohrn-van Rossum. Munich: Carl Hanser, 1992. Pp. 415; illustra­ tions, notes, bibliography, index. DM 68.00. To my knowledge, this is the first work of its kind since Bilfinger’s Die mittelalterlichen Horen und die modemen Stunden (1892). However, it sur­ passes Bilfinger in its meticulous and extensive use ofsources—it is based on unpublished data on about one thousand towns. Gerhard Dohrn-van Rossum’s central theme is the part played by clocks, particularly the striking public clockwork, in our conception of time. In his introduction, the author points out the relationshipbetween the diffusion ofthe public clockwork and our changing time consciousness. His research was in­ spired by an investigation ofthe concepts ofthe “time ofthe church” and the “timeofthe merchants” initiatedbyJ. Le Goff’s Tempsde l’église (1960), among others. However, an exhaustive and critical study of sources led him to set aside misconceptions derived from former pronouncements. For it became apparent that merchants, although conscious of modern hours, did not initially use them for their transactions,just as it appears from hitherto scarcely published liturgical texts that the church had no aversion whatsoever to using modern hours. In dealing with monastic timekeeping,judged again by a scrupulous study of sources, the current view ofa rigid chronological timetable is contradicted. It was sufficient to arrange the day around the services, the time ofwhich was influenced by seasonal differences in the length of day and night. Die Geschichte der Stunde describes timekeeping from antiquity and the change from temporal and canonical hours to modern or equal hours. The history of clockwork is recorded by critically placing the various contemporary theories side by side. When tracing the diffu­ sion of the public clockwork throughout Western Europe, the main impulse for the procurement of a clockwork turns out to be prestige. The initiative to buy one came from ruling princes, but mostly from town councils. There are three distinct kinds of clockmakers: astro­ nomical scientists, like Richard of Wallingford and Giovanni Dondi dall’Orologio, engineers knowledgeable in many fields, and ordinary smiths and locksmiths, accountable for making town clocks. Dohrn-van Rossum’s book shows when the various segments of society adopted the concept of time in equal hours and, later on, in sequences of time. Before the installation of a public clockwork, each town had an extensive system of signals consisting of the ringing or striking of different bells for every town function. So, in due time the striking of the hours by the public town clock would replace the older signal system and, accordingly, introduce exact time measurement uninfluenced by the length of day or night. The important part played by the hourglass alongside the clockwork becomes apparent. The former was regularly used in schools and churches for exact measurement of definite lengths of time. Similarly, the breaks in working days were measured by an hourglass. 674 Book Reviews TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE In contradiction to contemporary views (of, among others, Lewis Mumford and Alistair C. Crombie, who quote Lynn Thorndike), it becomes evident that it was not possible to use precise time measure­ ment in scientific experiments before the end of the 16th century. Although astronomy did in theory distinguish minutes and seconds, the faces of mechanical clocks were not yet equipped with a hand to indicate the minutes. Consequently, early clocks were simply unfit as measurement instruments. Much space is devoted to the regulation of working time and the problems and changes involved. And, finally, the development of communication and postal systems is described in detail. This book critically reviews all new and older theories, providing a clear picture of the influence of the clockwork on the evolution of our conception of time. Although the bibliography is somewhat meager, the notes are ample and the index clearly structured. Dohrn-van Rossum sends a message to historians: go back to the sources, however tedious the work may be! Annie T. Lantink-Ferguson Dr. Lantink-Ferguson is doing research on the mutual relationship between mechan­ ical implements in different fields. Her publications include “The Origin of the Clockwork-Escapement,” Nature, vol. 330 (December 1987

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